WOODBURY - From car stops to crimes in progress, police are on the streets every night. But this past weekend marked the end of a special initiative known as "Operation Spring Cleaning."

News 12 Long Island's Eileen Lehpamer rode along with Nassau's finest last Friday. The final weekend of the 45-day crime crackdown began with a strategy sit-down around 5 p.m.

Seventy Nassau officers were called in that night, including members of the Bureau of Special Operations and the Criminal Intelligence Rapid Response Team. Sgt. Patrick Ryder was behind the wheel for the crackdown on drug sales, drug possession, car break-ins and more.

Within a few hours, CIRRT members had arrested more than two dozen people, mostly for drug offenses.

Next up was a pawn shop in East Meadow where investigators said the owner bought items without the proper identification from the seller, as required by law. After that, police caught up with more members of the specialized intel team, which arrested two men for allegedly buying crack.

A BMW was spotted blowing through a stop sign while driving in Hempstead. The driver refused to pull over, and Sgt. Ryder determined that it wasn't safe to follow.

Two days later, police arrested the suspected driver of that BMW after tracking it down using the license plate. Paul Medley, 34, of Hempstead, was charged with reckless endangerment. Court records show he has prior arrests for marijuana possession, unauthorized use of a vehicle, criminal possession of stolen property and failure to stop at stop signs.

Another part of "Operation Spring Cleaning" was a three-night safety checkpoint in Elmont where police looked for everything from drunken drivers to people with expired licenses and registrations.

Within 20 minutes of appearing at the checkpoint, News 12 witnessed a driver get arrested after police said he failed a field sobriety test.

There were more than 1,000 arrests during the 45-day operation.

"It was very productive," said Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter. "We're moving the needle in the right direction."